


xxi. lethal

by icymapletree



Series: febuwhump/febufluff 2020 [21]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies)
Genre: Gen, Peter Parker Needs a Hug, That's it, also BARF, that's the tag
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-06
Updated: 2020-03-06
Packaged: 2021-02-28 16:41:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,550
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23040379
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/icymapletree/pseuds/icymapletree
Summary: Alarms blare in his head. Beck’s right there, inches from his face.This is the man who tried to kill him in Europe-- and then Michelle, Tony, and May when he was back in the states.There’s nothing coherent in his head, all of his thoughts just screaming at him to hurt Beck-- to swipe at him-- tokillhim--In some untouched corner of his mind, it scares him - yet he can’t find it in himself to care.
Relationships: Peter Parker & Tony Stark
Series: febuwhump/febufluff 2020 [21]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1618837
Comments: 6
Kudos: 57





	xxi. lethal

He thought that Beck was dead. He heard the shot ring out-- but it turns out he was mistaken.

Tonight, it was just supposed to be a routine drug cartel shut down in a warehouse on the Hudson. Peter didn’t look into it far enough - which he realizes as he strains against the handcuffs. 

By the way that they feel, he can tell they’re vibranium. He can break through nearly every other metal on the planet-- but not this one, no matter how hard he tries. 

Alarms blare in his head. Beck’s right there, inches from his face.

This is the man who tried to kill him in Europe-- and then Michelle, Tony, and May when he was back in the states.

There’s nothing coherent in his head, all of his thoughts just screaming at him to hurt Beck-- to swipe at him-- to _kill_ him--

In some untouched corner of his mind, it scares him - yet he can’t find it in himself to care, even as Beck starts to monologue. 

“Tony ruined my life. He discredited me, called me,” he puts up exaggerated finger quotes, “‘insane.’ I tried to hurt Pepper-- but she’s too well protected. She’s a CEO, you’re just a _kid_. A whiny little kid who thinks he’s entitled to the world.”

“I’m not a kid!” 

“Not until you prove it.” A smirk grows on his face. “An adult would do what needs to be done.”

He feels himself yank forward, the handcuffs falling off of his wrists. It doesn’t take much time at all before a new world is built in front of him - one made of red sand and a blossoming gray sky. His stomach gets floaty when he feels a change in gravity, yet his feet feel firmly planted in the ground. 

Peter has doubts in the back of his mind, but it doesn’t matter because Tony is just out of reach and writhing on the ground. Before he can even think about it, Peter is running towards him, ignoring the dust that pelts his face.

“Tony, hey, hey. _Tony_.”

“Hey, kid.”

Blood gushes from where the nanoparticles have broken and Thanos has stabbed him. 

“I don’t have any of the bandage material le-” he coughs, “left.”

“Yes, you do, Mr. Stark. _Tony_. I remember that you have it. Right, FRI?”

FRIDAY’s voice comes to life garbled. “There don’t seem to be enough nanoparticles in my system, Peter.”

“No, no, there are-- I remember this, FRI, I remember--”

“There are no memories of this in my database.”

“Mr. Stark told me that he healed himself, that Dr. Strange helped him--”

Tony puts a weak hand on Peter’s chest, and the kid’s heart stops. He doesn’t even pause to think about it, his mask comes down, and he’s watching the life fades out of Tony’s eyes. The blood is pouring, and there’s so much of it, it’s under his fingernails, it’s a shiny residue on his suit. 

When Tony becomes a slumped weight in his arms, he knows. Even though he had said goodbye to Tony in his Manhattan apartment what feels like forever ago. He doesn’t remember going to space, but all the signs point to Tony being dead in his arms.

His world fades to black like in the movies-- and that’s when he knows he’s been lied to. There’s no body in his arms, there’s not even a weight.

He’s back in the warehouse - where he had thought that he was, before he was ripped from reality and thrown into something so similar.

“See what I can do, Peter? Bring you to tears?”

Peter wipes his eyes and is surprised to find that he _is_ crying. He looks up at the ceiling and screams “What do you want?”

“Only for you to prove to me that you’re not the little hormonal teenager that I think you are. You could be good for a lot of things, Peter Parker, but first you’ve gotta prove yourself.”

“I don’t want to prove myself!”

“Then I guess you’re going to be stuck here for a long time.”

He’s plunged into another simulation. He’s with Tony and Morgan at a carnival on a pier - how does Beck know about Morgan? - and they’re laughing and sharing cotton candy, but Peter can tell by the anxiety that is rooted deep in his gut that nothing here is right. He knows it’s not real. He _knows_ , but it doesn’t stop it from feeling real - because what if it is this time?

Everything seems fine-- it always does at first. The air is salty and smells like fried food, like any other summer day, but Peter’s on high alert. 

“We should go ride the roller coaster,” Tony says, “How does that sound--”

He isn’t waiting for long - a wooden plank cracks below Tony’s feet and he’s dropped into the ocean. 

Peter tries to leap in after him, but there’s a layer of _something_ stopping him from leaping in the water after Tony. He can’t do anything but bang on what feels like glass as Morgan screams and shouts. He knows what Beck is trying to do when the hand that Tony was holding out of the water sinks under the crashing waves.

It’s tragedy after tragedy - Tony gets hit by a car and Peter’s tingle doesn’t go off. Tony gets shot. He’s then attacked by a bear while they’re camping.

When Peter is thrown into another fake world, he decides that this is the time that he’s going to do something. He and Tony are in a dank alleyway, and Tony seems to be reading something on the display of his mask, probably some information for whatever mission that Beck had made up for them.

There are just a few words from Tony before a figure slinks into the alleyway with them. He misses the prescence at first - his sense is on high alert and so loud that it’s hard to feel any change.

Peter knows that it’s Beck by the way he seems to hover in place. His steps are shaky yet calculated even as he reaches into his back pocket for what appears to be a weapon.

“All systems are a go, kid. We can head out.”

Peter’s eyes stay glued to the man in all black. 

“Kid?”

He knows what he needs to do, what Beck has been pushing for him to do. He has to kill the Beck in the simulation before he kills Tony. Peter moves so fast that he’s like a blur, swiping at the man’s legs. 

It’s all within a fraction of a second that Peter steals the gun and fires it at Beck without a second thought.

“Kid?” Tony asks before the real world is brought back.

“Good job, Peter. There’s just one more that I have for you.”

The atmosphere changes, like he’s emerged from the world that Beck had built. Around him, the area looks vaguely familiar, but his eyes lock with Beck’s and he knows what he needs to do to be freed.

He can’t even let himself watch Tony get hurt this time, he runs towards Beck with the same kind of urgency that he had when he ran towards Tony in the first simulation. Peter doesn’t even bother with a weapon like the last time, his hands are his best weapon.

They’re done some incredible things-- like hold Morgan for the first time, clutch Tony’s sweatshirt when he’s upset, hold Michelle’s hand-- but this won’t be gentle. This is every emotion that he’s ever felt against Beck coming out.

This Beck isn’t real, there are no consequences for his brutality in the real world. He can’t help but think this feels a little bit _more_ than all those times before, without the chalky feeling that BARF leaves on his memories. 

His hands go around Beck’s neck and squeezes-- but not with his full strength. The man turns blue and gasps for air, but Peter just wants to _leave_ , to go home and see his family, just stop this damn test--

When he feels Beck’s weight go slack, he drops the body to the ground with a thud. He’s strangely relieved. 

Except the scene around him never dissolves, and Beck never pops around the corner with a cackle. Peter slowly realizes the reason that the man can’t make a sound is because he’s dead right there in front of Peter. And Peter killed him-- Peter killed him using his own hands. 

Peter collapses onto the floor and he’s never felt more agony and guilt in his entire life. Sure, Beck was an awful person. But no one, regardless of how terrible they are, deserves to die.

It’s unforgivable that Peter took a man’s life, even if that man wanted to take his.

The floor is a comfort-- if he gets up, he has to face his family. And he can’t face his family after this - they’d never view him the same. 

Tony wouldn’t want Morgan around a killer-- especially one with _intent_ like he had. So he consigns to curling up on the floor of the warehouse, his sobs wracking through his body with unchecked emotions. He finds himself hoping that someone will find him, a couple feet away from a dead body, and give him what he deserves.

**Author's Note:**

> thank you for reading! one of these days i will finish febuwhump lmao
> 
> come talk to me on [tumblr](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/icymapletree)


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